


~TASTE THE RAINBOW~

by Zolac_no_Miko



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Disability, Gen, Missing Scene, and veers off sharply into unbridled crack, like this starts off with canon sadness, sorry about that?, uneven emotional tone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 00:42:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4685744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zolac_no_Miko/pseuds/Zolac_no_Miko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The serum changed Steve Rogers in many ways, and not all of the changes were instantaneous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	~TASTE THE RAINBOW~

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sirona](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirona/gifts).



> **Warnings:** _Spoilers for Captain America: The First Avenger_. Death of characters who did actually die in the movie.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** Named characters and certain plot elements in this story are © Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Pictures. All content is fictional and for entertainment purposes only, not for profit.
> 
>  **Notes:** Happy birthday to the lovely [sirona](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sirona), who will always be my favorite. Beta'd by the lovely [regonym](http://archiveofourown.org/users/regonym) who will also always be my favorite.
> 
> I am a person without physical disabilities attempting to write about what it's like to have physical disabilities, or rather, what it's like when they suddenly go away. I've done my best, but if I've fucked something up in a way that is actively offensive, please let me know.
> 
> [This](https://cap-chronism.dreamwidth.org/6115.html) is a pretty comprehensive round-up of every medical condition Steve may or may not have had, with sources. Pretty much every source contradicts every other source, so I feel pretty justified in just cherrypicking the ones I want to explore and to hell with being canonically consistent.
> 
> This is pure silliness, just so you know.
> 
> This story also available on [my LiveJournal](http://zolac-no-miko.livejournal.com/168185.html).

_The Smithsonian exhibit on Captain America had a section on the science of Project Rebirth. The secret of Erskine's serum, of course, had been lost forever, but the Sarcophagus had been preserved intact, and Army medical records from before and after the procedure were used to enumerate the many augmentations and corrections made to Steve Rogers' physiology. What the exhibit did not mention was that not all of the changes were instantaneous._

~ ~ ~

The first minute after Steve stumbled out of the Sarcophagus was mostly a blur in his memory, lost in the haze of pain from the stretching and rebuilding of his entire skeleton and musculature. He vaguely remembered Peggy talking to him, was pretty sure he said something back, and then—the explosion. Gunshots. Kind Dr. Erskine gasping and bleeding on the floor.

The first thing Steve noticed was the new, incredible strength in his muscles, the speed he could force out of them as he chased down a _car_ on _foot_ , the heights he could clear when he jumped. Focused on the Nazi rat in the yellow taxi, he didn't think of his asthma—at first. As he sprinted full-tilt down the middle of a busy street he felt the familiar tightness in his lungs, felt a flicker of panic as he started to wheeze—and then his airways cleared, and then he was taking deep, full breaths of clean air, deeper than ever before until he felt dizzy with oxygen, and he ran _faster_.

The next thing was his hearing. As he followed Erskine's murderer and his hostage—just a _kid_ for Chrissakes—onto the pier, his voice, the kid's voice, the screams of the people around him became less muffled, became sharp and loud and clear, like someone had pulled rolls of cotton out of his ears. He didn't have time to think about it; he shook his head, adjusted, and dove into the water.

In the time between the foamy-mouthed death of the Nazi spy and the squeal of tires as a dozen SSR agents arrived on the scene, Steve had a few minutes to process what had just happened; to mourn, sharply and sweetly, the death of a man who had been clever and funny and unfailingly kind to him, and then to take a deep breath and center himself, tucking that feeling away to be looked at later.

Then the SSR arrived and Steve gave his best account of what had happened, frowning down at the dead spy, and then frowning down at the ground, because that was easier to look at. After a couple of minutes Agent Carter's shoes entered his field of vision. "Come along, Steven, we should probably get you off of the street, technically you're a state secret."

Steve sighed. "I suppose you're right whaaaaattheheck?" Steve had lifted his head to look at Carter and—her lips—they were—they looked—

Steve blinked a few times, then blinked _harder_ , in case that would help. "Steven?" Carter inquired, sounding concerned.

"Holy shhhhhhhhh—I'm sorry, I, your mouth!" He leaned in to get a closer look, eyes wide.

Carter looked slightly alarmed and a lot confused. "What about my mouth, exactly?"

"It's red! It's _really really_ red! ...Holy cow, it's beautiful." He wanted to touch it. He lifted his hand, then remembered himself and put it back down. _It was so red, though!_

Carter blinked at him. "...Oh. You were color-blind. The serum fixed your color-blindness?"

With effort, Steve pulled his gaze away from her lips. "I guess— _oh wow look at the sky!_ "

"The sky?"

"It's so bright! ...Is this what you all see, all of the time?"

"I—I guess so," Carter said. She looked startled, but she was also smiling a little.

Steve looked around a little. "The kid! Wow, his hair is _crazy_!"

Carter laughed. "Yes, it's very orange. ...Come on, Private Rogers, we do need to get you back." She put her hand on his arm, trying to get him moving.

Steve felt dizzy. Everything was so... so... he didn't know how to describe it, it was so strange but so _beautiful_. He let Carter tow him along towards a car. "Oh gosh, your nails, too, they're so—they're so—" He caught sight of the driver's tie and slipped Carter's grasp. "Hi, hey, excuse me, your tie's pretty keen, what _color_ is that?"

The plainclothes agent stared at him. "...It's pink."

"That's pink? Wow!" The tie had little coconut trees all over it. _They were so green!_

"Oh heavens, Steven, please get in the car," Carter insisted, sounding suspiciously like she might laugh.

Steve gamely slid into the backseat (narrowly avoiding barking his head on the way in, so that was a strange thing also), shoving over so Carter could get in after him. The driver pulled out into the street, and Steve promptly rolled down the window and stuck his head out. "Wow, look at her _hat!_ "

Carter laughed again; not in a mean way, but like she was happy. "I can't even imagine what this must be like for you. ...Is it nice?"

"It's...." Steve trailed off as they passed a flower shop. His eyes stung and his throat felt suspiciously tight. "It's incredible, Agent Carter, I can't begin to tell you. ...Oh boy, I need to get myself to the Met." He tried to imagine what the paintings would look like.

"I'm happy for you," Carter said softly. "And it's nice to have a reminder, how much beauty there is in the world."

Steve shook his head. "I can't imagine how everyone forgets!" He turned to look at her. "...Wow. Just, wow. You really do look amazing with that lipstick."

Carter smiled and dropped her gaze, almost shyly, and for a moment Steve's breath caught in his throat. Then the car was slowing and pulling over to the side of the road. Carter cleared her throat. "Come along. They'll want to give you a full medical exam."

Steve climbed out of the car and followed her to another nondescript store front, and then—

And then—

"Steven?"

Steve stood frozen, staring up in awe. The Stars and Stripes were flying above the doorway, the red as rich as Agent Carter's perfect lipstick, the stars shining against a field of the purest, realist blue.

"...Steven?" Carter asked again.

Steve started to tear up for real this time. "That... that is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life," he said, unable to keep his voice from shaking a little.

"...Oh dear," Carter said.

**Author's Note:**

> Steve: *looks into a mirror* "Holy cow, did my eyes _always_ look like that?!"
> 
> ~ ~ ~
> 
> This is 100% inspired by every Enchroma video I've ever watched. If you don't already know about Enchroma, it is a goddamn scientific miracle of the modern age, and also there is no greater, purer joy than watching color-blind human beings try on Enchroma glasses for the first time and TRIP. BALLS. I highly recommend you do a YouTube search for "enchroma" and watch every single video you can find.
> 
>  [But start with this one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCcxwieuDH0)


End file.
